


Crab Biscuits

by comixwriter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Love My Babies, I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 10:23:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11918886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comixwriter/pseuds/comixwriter
Summary: While investigating a potential threat on Tony's life, Clint goes missing. It's a rush against the clock to save the missing archer and find out just what it is that these men want.





	Crab Biscuits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hawkeye19](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkeye19/gifts).



> For a friend, who's the Clint to my Tony. Who's probably going to be exasperated that I'm posting this at the time that I am because I said I was going to bed. Also, I'm really sorry this took so long even tho it's so incredibly short xD :P  
> And all because of Crab Biscuits.

“Fuck you, asswipe.” blood trickled from Clint’s nose as he spat at the man in front of him. Bruises littered his body and cuts and scratches bled sluggishly, dripping to the floor. He glared blearily through one swollen eye, wrists twisting in the manacles that still held him up. His shoulders screamed in pain, both from how long they had been that way and from the burns that decorated his back.  
  
“This would be so much easier if you would just give us the codes to get into Stark’s mansion.” Bland displeasure filled dull eyes as a napkin wiped Clint’s blood away from the man’s knuckles. “We don’t want anyone else, just Stark. We know that he has provisions in place to continue supplying funds to the Avengers in the event of his death.”  
  
Clint said nothing, staring the man down best as he was able. The man sighed and shook his head.  
  
“Honestly, it’s not like Stark’s anything more than a cash cow for you guys.” he took three steps closer to the bound Avenger. “Everyone can see that Stark’s nothing more than an attention whore, looking for a bigger spotlight. You’ve been here for five days already and no one has come for you.” His thick hand wrapped around Clint’s jaw, squeezing painful and tight. “Stark doesn’t care. He knows you were investigating us and the threat we pose to him, and he doesn’t care. You’re going to die in one of our cells if you don’t start talking soon, little hawk.”  
  
Teeth grinding and fists clenching, venom in his eyes, Clint still said nothing. And then rocked back with a grunt when the man’s other fist collided with his gut. He gasped and tried to curl in on himself. Readying himself for another hit, he almost sagged in relief when the jingle of a cell phone went off. It rang for a moment before the man let go of Clint to step back and reach into his pocket to answer the incoming call.  
  
“I’m in the middle of something.” a pause, the other line quiet enough that, even with his hearing aids turned up Clint was unable to listen to the full conversation. “No.” The man turned away from Clint. Clint decided he was going to start calling this man Crab. Because he was always grumpy. Like a crab. And because Clint could see the pale complexion deepening into crimson as he grew frustrated by whatever he was being told. “Then deal wi-... Fine. Be ready to leave in ten minutes. Or you’re going to get a bullet as a bonus instead of cash.” Crab clicked his tongue, placed the phone in his pocket with deliberate casualness, and turned a face creased with anger back towards Clint. “We’re moving you. Apparently Hydra operatives are antsy to get their hands on you as well. You’re a popular little pest, Hawkeye.”  
  
Biting back a retort, because he could control himself just fine, thank you. No, it didn’t have anything to do with the last time he made a snarky remark resulting in a red hot crowbar to his right knee. No, that definitely had nothing to do with his silence. Besides, watching that red deepen to purple, just out of anger from his silence was almost as satisfying as asking if Crab had a partner called Biscuits.  
  
What wasn’t satisfying was the painful thump at his temple that drew him into the dark.

  


CTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCT

“Tony, you’re going to wear a hole into the concrete.” The reprimand that fell from Natasha’s lips lost its bite as soon as Tony turned to look at her. She was going over the same bit of footage. Again. And again. And again. Nails digging deeper and deeper into her skin as the same forty five seconds replayed in front of her, leaving little crescent moons to well with blood when she unclenched her hands to rewind it once more. Sam’s gentle hands pulled her away from the computer and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.  
  
“...” Tony watched Natasha hold herself back from breaking and quietly decided that sleep, for the fifth day in a row. He hadn’t slept since Clint had disappeared. He’d gone dark investigating threats on Tony’s life, his last check in cutting off abruptly. They’d found the destroyed communicator, but no sign of the archer. He glanced at the frozen image of Clint hanging from the ceiling of a warehouse in manacles. Guilt coursed through him as the recorded footage they’d managed to salvage played once more on the screen.  
  
Tony startled at the warmth that suddenly wrapped itself around him. Red hair blocked his vision and nails dug into his back as Natasha wormed her way closer to him, pressing tightly against him. Seeking comfort even as she gave it.  
  
“ _We’ll get him, Antoshka. We’ll get him back._ ” The harshly whispered Russian in his ear prompted him to wrap his arms around her back. He nodded jerkily, soft curls obscuring his face from the others and hummed his agreement quietly. His gaze fixed on the recording of the missing Avenger.  
  
They ignored the concerned looks the others shot each other as they clutched each other tight. It didn’t matter that this sort of contact was out of the norm for both of them, as far as the others knew. All that mattered was getting Clint back. 

CTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCT

 

Clint stared listlessly at the floor, long since having stopped trying to count the blood splatters on the floor. It had become a futile attempt to pass the time as his interrogators had continued. The more they hit him, the more the blood splatter had blended, until they were more akin to puddles then to splatter. They’d blended just like the days he’d lost count of, kept in the physical dark as he was. He knew it had been at least a full week, maybe more, since they’d captured him. Trying to guess the specifics however, was far past what he was currently capable of doing.  
  
He was in pain and cold, he was hungry and probably in shock from blood loss, and he could swear that he was hallucinating ACDC blasting over the shitty intercom system that ran through the building.  
He was almost positive that it was “Back in Black”, he’d certainly listened to Tony blast it through his lab so many times that the damn song was almost permanently stuck in his head. Kind of like how he could hear the sound of Cap’s shield bouncing of concrete and the skulls of enemies. He chuckled as he imagined what Crab would do if he saw that shield coming for his face and a repulsor blast for his knee caps. With a Widow’s Bite to his chest to finish it off from Tasha.  
  
He whined and squirmed away from the cold hands that gently tilted his face away from his imagined revenge, wincing at the too loud voices that tried to get his attention. He just wanted to go home and sleep. Maybe get some crab biscuits with some lobster bisque and watch cheesy t.v. shows with Tasha and Tony. Snark and throw some shade at the reality shows. He just wanted to sleep….  
  


CTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCT

“ Tony! Natasha! We’ve got a hit on a location from Red Wing!”  
  
Sam’s frantic calling had the entire team scrambling into action. Gear and suits flew from shelves and hangers and the quinjet was primed and ready in record fashion as the hope to rescue Clint burned hotly.  
  
Blueprint’s of the warehouse and shots of the men occupying it lit up the interior of the ship as they hashed out the best way for them to infiltrate the building, anxious tension drawing them tight while hope bolstered their determination.  
  
Thor and Sam dropped first, with Wanda and Vision hot on their heels. Tony took Steve and Natasha down while Bruce watched the ship, holding Hulk to the sidelines unless necessary.  
  
Their positions set, they struck.  
  
Surprise was on their side, the men inside having not anticipated a direct assault, and they overpowered them quickly. Unconscious and bound as they were taken down to avoid attacks from behind.  
  
Tony and Natasha found the command room first, quickly making their way through the system and finding the room where Clint was being held while Steve covered them from the door.  
  
“Clint’s closest to our location, western most room in the basement at the end of the hall. Bruce, buddy, be ready with that med equipment. He’s not looking too hot.” Tony took a moment to hook into the warehouse intercoms. “Let’s give Hawkass a little heads up that we’re en route.” The quiet concern colouring his words negating any need to call him on the nickname even as rock music started blaring through the building.  
  
Seething hot Russian spewed from Natasha, strangely accompanying the blasting sound of “Back in Black” as they raced through the corridors, taking down the men that stood between them and their goal. Guns or no guns. They did not get back up again, quietly groaning or drooling into the floor.  
  
Finally, only one man stood between them and their goal. They could hear the sounds of the others as the fought their way through the building as they stared him down. Then, they struck.  
  
Tony blasted the door behind the man open, Steve flung his shield striking the man in the face and sending him tumbling through the clearing dust of the once door, now hole, sending him crashing to the ground feet from where Clint hung from the ceiling.  
  
The man struggled to rise and a sharp blast from Tony’s repulsors to his knee sent him crashing back down. Natasha leapt from behind Tony to deliver the final blow with a sharp jab of her Widow's Bite to his chest, knocking him down and out for the count. She crouched over his body, bowed and twisted as she twisted her fist harder into his chest, as her lips curled and brow furrowed. Her breath was harsh and sharp as she struggled to control it, muttering under her breath until a leather clad hand gently eased her up and off.  
  
Steve pulled her into a hug even as Sam and Tony worked to get Clint free of his shackles.  
  
“He’s lost a lot of blood Bruce, and he definitely has a fever. He keeps mumbling about crab biscuits and lobster.” Sam’s calm helped to sooth Natasha, and she slowly pulled away from Steve with a small nod of thanks.  
  
“Let’s get him home.”

  


CTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCTCT

The steady beeping of a monitor was the first thing that drew Clint’s attention as he clawed his way back to consciousness. The second was the feeling of soft, warm sheets curled around him, and the third was the muted sound The Princess Bride in the background. He cracked his eyes open and stared at the ceiling for a moment, before shifting his head to look around the room.  
  
Natasha and Tony were curled up together on a small couch beside the head of his bed, fast asleep, while Bruce tapped away on a tablet beside them; absorbed in what he was reading. At the foot of his bed he could just make out Thor playing cards with Wanda and Sam, while Steve drew and Vision watched the curving of the pencil over the paper. The t.v. in the corner, quietly ignored but still playing it’s movie, showed Buttercup and Wesley embracing lovingly  
  
Clint remember flashes, here and there, of brief moments of lucidness and of pain. He remembered getting rescued, or what he thought was him being rescued, and then he remembered he was hungry. The loud gurgling of his stomach caused Natasha to jerk awake, which made Tony jolt up and knock the tablet from Bruce. There was a beat, and then everyone was up and around him at once.  
  
“What happened?” his voice was raspy and scratched painfully at his throat, nodding his thanks as Wanda brought a cup with ice chips to him.  
  
“You were captured by the people that were threatening Tony.” Steve was the first to speak, but trailed off as Clint shook his head.  
  
“No, I mean, what happened after that?” Tony took the smallest of steps forward, lines etched into his face accentuating the dark bags that hollowed out his eyes. Clint noticed those same lines and bags on Natasha’s face, with varying degrees of the same on the others.  
  
“The men who were threatening me used to be weapons dealers that Stand used to work with. They’ve been stewing for years, plotting how best to get back at me for cutting off their best dealer.” Tony’s eyes dropped and his brows drew tight. “I thought I’d gotten them all, but I missed some apparently.” Clint watched as Natasha slowly wrapped her hand around Tony’s. They shared a look and quietly agreed to help Tony through the guilt he obviously felt, and to help him see if there were more he missed. “They kept moving you, and we were always two steps behind. They only had you twelve days, but Hydra also found out that they had you. That complicated things a little bit, but that eventually worked in our favour.” Sam nodded.  
  
“Tony had me get Red Wing to follow around some of the known members of Hydra. He followed them all the way to one of the warehouses that you were kept in, and then followed the weapons dealers out as they managed to slip out the back door and away from Hydra. That lead to us finding the warehouse we finally rescued you from.”  
  
“You were badly hurt, my friend. The footage we found showed your bravery and loyalty in your refusal to give them the information the desired.” Thor spoke solemnly from the foot of the bed, and Vision and Wanda nodded in agreement.  
  
“It was a close call Clint. We almost lost you.” Steve clasped his shoulder and smiled. “I’m glad we didn’t.”  
  
“Did you guys really face shield, knee repulsor, Widow Bite his ass?” Natasha smirked as she leaned in, the concern she had for him still there but held tight.  
  
“It was a good combo attack, we might have to try it again sometime.” She shot a look to Tony and Steve, both nodding in agreement.  
  
“Oh! That reminds me!” Tony turned his face to the ceiling. “Friday? You sent that order out, yes?”  
  
“Sure did Boss! Dum-E’s bringing it up now!”  
  
Clint laughed at the pained expression on Tony’s face as he made a helpless gesture of ‘why me’.  
  
“What order we talking about Shellhead?” Dum-E burst into the room with a flurry of beeps just as he asked and Tony only smirked as he took the tray from the excited robot. Thankfully, Dum-E had managed to not make a mess of anything he’d carried.  
  
“Well, Hawkass, you kept mumbling about something the entire time you were out of it with the fever, so I decided to make sure we had some the moment you woke up.”  
  
Tony brought the tray closer, and Clint started to laugh as it was placed on his lap.  
  
There, right in front of him, was a plate of crab biscuits.


End file.
